Two riders who wore the Maglia Rosa at the Giro d’Italia Next Gen 2026 competed in the U23 time trial at the World Championships in Montréal, with Nicolas Milesi claiming second place.
The stars of tomorrow wear pink on the roads of the Giro d’Italia Next Gen and rainbow colours in the youth categories at the UCI World Championships. On Monday, Dutchman Ryan Gal surprised everyone – himself included – by winning the U23 time trial in Montréal, Canada, averaging 50.166 km/h over a 31.2 km course that crossed the St. Lawrence River to reach the Circuit Gilles-Villeneuve before heading back to Jeanne-Mance Park in the Mont-Royal district. The reigning U23 national time trial champion and a stage winner at this year’s Giro Ciclistico della Valle d’Aosta – Mont Blanc, Gal produced the biggest performance of his young career thanks to a storming finale. The 21-year-old Dutchman finished seven seconds ahead of Nicolas Milesi, a three-time silver medallist in the U23 time trial at the Italian Championships. Milesi had also finished seventh in this year’s time trial in L’Aquila, which brought the Giro d’Italia Next Gen to a close on a considerably hillier course.
On that occasion, Ireland’s Adam Rafferty and Belgium’s Matisse Van Kerckhove had also impressed by finishing in the top three behind Lorenzo Finn, who is preparing to contest the Elite road race on Sunday. Rafferty finished 10th in the U23 time trial in Montréal, ahead of Van Kerckhove in 12th. Among those who finished ahead of them was Norway’s Kasper Haugland, the first rider to wear the Maglia Rosa at the Giro Next Gen 2026, who placed seventh in Montréal. Another rider who led the general classification at this year’s race, Belgium’s Jasper Schoofs, finished 17th on Monday.
Also worthy of mention was an excellent performance from Slovakia’s Viktória Chladoňová, who finished fourth in the Women’s U23 time trial behind Australia’s Felicity Wilson-Haffenden, the Netherlands’ Nienke Vinke and Belgium’s Luca Vierstraete. A silver medallist in the same event last year, Chladoňová missed out on the podium by less than a second. She had already made her mark among the Elite riders at the 2025 and 2026 editions of the Giro d’Italia Women.
